Geely E2 Apex, pull the trigger or am I going mad?

Benedict A55h0le not said:
My concern is that this is South Africa.- cars need a spare wheel for safety. I am not thinking about costs. A car must have a spare wheel in SA. These cars only has a repair kit = fail. I will rather wait for an EV that does have a spare wheel.
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I keep tyre jacks in the car anyway because of safety. You can fill up the tyre and continue going before getting attention.
 
ozziej said:
I'm pretty close to pulling the trigger on one of these as well, drove the lower spec model and was really impressed. It's basically a small Volvo (Same parent company) and honestly for the difference in price between this and a Suzuki Fronx, it's a no brainer to go for it. (Pricing is very similar)
The Chery Q also looks good, but they're not available for test driving yet and the specs say the Geely is the better car.

You end up spending around 1/5th the amount of money on electricity as you would in petrol.
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I'm in the same boat. If I'm forced to buy another car I'd likely get one, but I currently only spend about R2.5k a month on petrol and R500 on insurance so don't see the need to take on a car payment and an insurance hike for it. I'd also consider the lower spec one as most of the ADAS systems are only worthwhile to me on longer trips, of which I'll be doing very few of in an E2 or Q.
 
Friend of mine bought the Apex. Surprisingly nice to drive. The app connection makes it worth it over the base model. I didn't pay too much attention to the ADAS stuff.

I was very surprised to see it rivalled my previous Civic (2011 hatch) for interior and boot space. I want to get one myself, but I won't get enough for the Q5 to make it worthwhile- fully paid off and diesel is still cheaper (for now) than a new car loan.

The only real question for me is how these cars will hold up over 5 - 8 years of ownership. Given the Volvo relationship, one would hope the build quality holds up over time.
 
konfab said:
Given the volumes these things are being sold at, I am not worried about parts.
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planned obsolescence? I mean every week a new chinesium of the week arrives, looks flashy has more gadgets than robocop
but long term, after its been paid off and the warranty is gone, what then? or do people just drive them in lease, hand them back and take another, like any BMW or Merc?

cause that would make sense, get rid of them before the problems become expensive to fix.
 
Small world moment. A work colleague of mine just got one this weekend and I just sat in it for a quick drive from the charging stations at our work to the main parking. Was impressed. Decent leg room, simple but nice interface. Very silent obviously. Liked the extra storage space in the front under the main bonnet with an OK sized boot.

She was spending just under 3K a month on fuel for her previous vehicle and now estimates even at the premium costs charged at work per KWH (around R8 per KWH) it would cost her around R800 pm. Once she has a DC charger installed at home she can charge from Eskom at Around R3,50 per KWH, and she also has solar that sometimes has spare capacity so she could trickle charge from that for free. Either was she estimates a savings of around R2500 min per month and that just becomes more if the fuel price rises.

I did the math on electric vehicles a few years back and the math did not quiet work out for me however now I am seriously tempted. Especially as it feels like fuel prices are going up with Iran and Russia and their nonsense.

Edit: The math that is outstanding for me is the depreciation costs of the vehicle itself and potential battery replacement down the road. How much is that costing me per month if I am driving for 10 + years.
 
Jet-Fighter7700 said:
planned obsolescence? I mean every week a new chinesium of the week arrives, looks flashy has more gadgets than robocop
but long term, after its been paid off and the warranty is gone, what then? or do people just drive them in lease, hand them back and take another, like any BMW or Merc?

cause that would make sense, get rid of them before the problems become expensive to fix.
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Sadly, planned obsolescence has nothing to do with China only- it's a global phenomenon.
 
Cius said:
Small world moment. A work colleague of mine just got one this weekend and I just sat in it for a quick drive from the charging stations at our work to the main parking. Was impressed. Decent leg room, simple but nice interface. Very silent obviously. Liked the extra storage space in the front under the main bonnet with an OK sized boot.

She was spending just under 3K a month on fuel for her previous vehicle and now estimates even at the premium costs charged at work per KWH (around R8 per KWH) it would cost her around R800 pm. Once she has a DC charger installed at home she can charge from Eskom at Around R3,50 per KWH, and she also has solar that sometimes has spare capacity so she could trickle charge from that for free. Either was she estimates a savings of around R2500 min per month and that just becomes more if the fuel price rises.

I did the math on electric vehicles a few years back and the math did not quiet work out for me however now I am seriously tempted. Especially as it feels like fuel prices are going up with Iran and Russia and their nonsense.

Edit: The math that is outstanding for me is the depreciation costs of the vehicle itself and potential battery replacement down the road. How much is that costing me per month if I am driving for 10 + years.
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Does your maths include servicing costs?

Also, don't get too worried about battery replacement.

More good news: These charts seem to represent a worst-case scenario, due to the data set. RSEV is a used EV dealer in the U.K., and its analysis covers cars that are coming off a lease. Leasing works differently in the U.K. and is common for company cars, but the terms are still usually three or four years. That means that not only are these cars doing 90,000 or 130,000 miles, but they're doing that high mileage in an exceedingly short time. Most cars will take a decade to hit that number, especially in the U.K., where the average driver doesn't cover as much ground as they do in the States.


That means these cars were driven hard, year round, and must have relied on relatively consistent DC fast charging. They're also 2021 or 2022 models, and both battery pack quality and overall EV reliability has improved significantly since then. Just look at the Jaguar I-Paces in the data set. That product was on sale in 2018 and represents an earlier generation of battery production and management tech, and as a result has the worst performance in the set.
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Interesting to see how many don't do their research before spewing a post.

Calling the bank to see my options on financing. They also have buy back special at geely after 48m at 8.5% interest. But it has a balloon...
 
Benedict A55h0le not said:
My concern is that this is South Africa.- cars need a spare wheel for safety. I am not thinking about costs. A car must have a spare wheel in SA. These cars only has a repair kit = fail. I will rather wait for an EV that does have a spare wheel.
Click to expand...
In 15 years not once has my wife had a pap wiel that caused her a "safety concern" (touch wood). Again, the car won't drive to cape town. It's meant for city driving where you are really close to support at any given time. Also, you can literally request a new tyre via uber these days.
 
Zuluzebra said:
Interesting to see how many don't do their research before spewing a post.

Calling the bank to see my options on financing. They also have buy back special at geely after 48m at 8.5% interest. But it has a balloon...
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I nearly dropped my phone with financing. They gave an 8 year option which was a replacement for balloon.
 
konfab said:
I keep tyre jacks in the car anyway because of safety. You can fill up the tyre and continue going before getting attention.
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That only works with a puncture, when something shreds your tyre you are stranded.
I’m assuming they come with runflats or perhaps not because it’s a budget orientated vehicle?
 
Zuluzebra said:
Current situation:

My wife drives a 15-year-old Hyundai i10 automatic, 90k km on the clock. She only drives from Randburg to Sandton and back, and petrol costs around R2k/month.

I drive a Fortuner. I work from home 3 days a week, but we use the Fortuner over weekends for braais, kids' parties, etc. Diesel for weekend driving alone is probably R1,000 to R1,500/month.

We also have small boys, and the i10 can barely fit one cricket bat in the back, never mind safety features.

The plan:

Yesterday I took the boys to test drive the Geely EV2 at Geely on Beyers Naudé, and I'm sold. My wife would use it for the Sandton commute 3 days a week, and we'd also use it over weekends instead of the Fortuner, saving on diesel, wear and tear, and giving us better safety for the kids.

I have a decent solar setup at home, so I reckon I can cover about 75% of charging costs from that.

The savings angle:

My wife will pay me the R2k/month she'd have spent on petrol into a managed savings account, and I'll add another R1k/month, so R3k/month total. Over 8 years (matching the battery warranty) at 7% interest, that account should grow to roughly R384,000, and that's without even factoring in rising fuel prices.

I'll be buying the car cash, no financing.

Am I mad, or does this actually make sense? Keen to hear thoughts from anyone who's made a similar switch.

I am looking at the geely e2 apex - 389900.
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Don't do it, don't let your kids get bullied.
 
airborne said:
That only works with a puncture, when something shreds your tyre you are stranded.
I’m assuming they come with runflats or perhaps not because it’s a budget orientated vehicle?
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I don't understand why this is a issue? As said before you can have a new tyre ubered to you in 15 min.
 
Zuluzebra said:
I don't understand why this is a issue? As said before you can have a new tyre ubered to you in 15 min.
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Probably not at 22:00 or on weekends. Unless you got family who works at Supaquick?

And good luck when you're halfway to Cape Town on the N1 ... there's no Uber there papa.

I totally get the sparewheel love in SA, and was impressed when my SUV came with a full-size alloy as a sparewheel and not the usual steel spare or Marie Biscuit. Sometimes I look at it lovingly, and pray I never need it.
 
Foxhound5366 said:
Probably not at 22:00 or on weekends. Unless you got family who works at Supaquick?

And good luck when you're halfway to Cape Town on the N1 ... there's no Uber there papa.

I totally get the sparewheel love in SA, and was impressed when my SUV came with a full-size alloy as a sparewheel and not the usual steel spare or Marie Biscuit. Sometimes I look at it lovingly, and pray I never need it.
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did you even read the description? This is a CITY car that I want to get my wife, Randburg to Sandton...She also doesnt drive at night as we will be together as a family. There won't be any Cape town travel at any time...
 
Zuluzebra said:
In 15 years not once has my wife had a pap wiel that caused her a "safety concern" (touch wood). Again, the car won't drive to cape town. It's meant for city driving where you are really close to support at any given time. Also, you can literally request a new tyre via uber these days.
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lol I want to see you order a new tyre via uber and have the uber driver look at you like a retard when you expect him to remove the old tyre and fit and inflate the new.
 
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